1. Field of the Invention
The method and apparatus of the present invention relates to refinishing vehicle tires. In particular, the method and apparatus of the present invention relates to grooving into the surface of vehicle tires and applying sidewalls or whitewalls therein while the tire remains in tact on the vehicle.
2. General Background
In the industry of the manufacture and sale of automobile tires, a great number of tires, because of one reason or another, are sold with a new or used automobile having no whitewall or sidewalling effect, with simply the blackwalls being the standard equipment. Particularly in the major countries of Europe, whitewall tires on automobiles are rather uncommon, and for the most part, most European automobile manufacturers provide blackwalls with the new automobiles as they come off of the assembly line.
It is often the case that the purchaser of an automobile or the like would prefer to have the whitewalling on the automobile rather than the blackwall, and thus, must go to the added expense of purchasing a new set of tires having the whitewall thereupon, or possibly have the whitewall placed on an existing blackwall tire. The present invention addresses this particular concern.
In the present state of the art, there are several apparatuses on the market which attempt to add white sidewalls to existing blackwall tires while the tires remain on the vehicle. Also, there have been means developed to add whitewall to an existing blackwall tire by removing the tire from the automobile, placing the tire on a relatively complex device for rotating the tire while attempting to cut a groove in the side of the tire and filling the groove with liquid rubber and the finishing buffing. This particular system, which we discussed in a patent cited in this application, has fallen short of the requirements in order to obtain a tire which is both asthetically presentable and maintains its structural integrity following the grooving out process.
There have been several patents which address the whitewalling of automobile tires, the most pertinent being as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,208 issued to O. C. Molen entitled "Methods Of Applying Decorative Strips To Tire Sidewalls" relates to a method and apparatus for adding strips to the sidewalls of tires. In this particular patent, the tire must be removed from the automobile and placed upon an assembly whereby the tire is rotated and the grooving member is allowed to make contact with the edge of the tire thus cutting out the necessary groove for adding the whitewall or the like strip.
The most serious set back in this particular means of accomplishing a result is the fact that the tire must be removed from the automobile and thus when the rotation occurs, does not achieve the stable rotation as it would were it mounted to the automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,105 issued to Pop entitled "Apparatus For Cutting Grooves In Vehicle Tires" also teaches the use of a similar apparatus as in the '208 Molin patent. However, in this particular apparatus, the tire is maintained on the automobile, and the grooving apparatus is mounted onto a platform wherein a swivel arm is allowed to make contact with the edge of the tire. The tire is rotated via dual extended rollers. However, a single grooving element can be utilized during this particular system, unlike the embodiment of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. D 247,907 issued to Satterfield entitled "Tire Refinishing Apparatus" relates to the ornamental design of a tire refinishing apparatus, and as a design patent, does not make any claim to the functional system itself.
Other patents which may be pertinent to the art of tire refinishing apparatus are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 1,400,971 Nye PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,567,472 Skiles PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,665 Anderson et al PA1 2,651,893 Braley PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,845 Bullis PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,810,238 Yoho et al PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,882 Barrett